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The online gaming industry has enriched itself with two new services that will make the gambling experience  safer and more secure.

Let’s first talk about the “Safe Gaming System” (SGS). This is a new service designed to protect players against excessive gaming. It is based on the principle of external control corroborated with player’s will power. In fact, SGS is conceived on a dual approach. It assists players on gaming sites, establishing affordable spending limits. These are established in advance and “away from the atmosphere of a gambling venue”, which will allow players to think rationally.

In the second stage, SGS also provides a mechanism for financing accounts at online casinos. Players charge their SGS account in the limit of their budget and on a pre-established period. Then, they will deposit money at online casinos using a debit card issued by SGS. Once players run out their “affordable limits,” SGS will not accept any more money from them during the “current budget period”.

The other service was created by ImpulsePay and its role is to verify the player’s age. That’s how it works: once an online casino uses this service, it displays a “Buy Now” button on its website. The player has to click on the image and enter his mobile number. He then receives a secure PIN by SMS and after introducing the code on the site, the casino is informed if the phone number is assigned to an adult user. If it results that the player is minor, he will be redirected to a help page. Otherwise, the process is completed and the casino allows player to register.

Both services have just been advertised and are not yet integrated into the online casino industry.

The British company PartyGaming, worldwide renowned in the online gambling field, has signed a multi-year agreement with French traditional bookmaker PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain). The latter is the monopolistic operator who organizes horse races betting in France. Now, the new deal enables PMU to operate online poker as well.

“This agreement will come into effect once the PMU and PartyGaming have each received a license allowing them to offer online poker in France”, says a statement from PMU.

Both parts hope this agreement will bring them mutual benefits. PartyGaming, which runs the largest online poker room – PartyPoker – is the first online gambling company listed on London Stock Exchange. The agreement provides that “the PMU will benefit from the PartyGaming poker platform services and will ensure the commercialization of its poker offering and the management of its customers”. However, PartyGaming retains the possibility of getting a French license under its own name.

The main objective of the arrangement, as put forward by the PartyGaming’s Chief Executive Jim Ryan, is “to have the largest poker liquidity pool in France”. Similar B2B agreements have been signed in Italy and Denmark.

“Today’s agreement with PMU is consistent with our stated strategy of securing a small number of high value partners in regulated markets”, said Jim Ryan. “PMU is widely recognized as one of Europe’s leading betting businesses and we look forward to providing them with a world class poker service”, concluded Ryan.

The news on the PartyGaming-PMU partnership was nevertheless quite surprising. Firstly, because the partner chosen by the PMU was PartyGaming while Paddy Power seemed better placed. Indeed, the Irish operator has an online poker platform which could have been added to the existing agreement between the two companies. Secondly, because, as we remarked, this new agreement with PartyGaming is not exclusive, meaning that PartyGaming will have the right to enter the French market with a concurrent offer.

As a result of its recent agreements, PartyGaming is expected to improve its fiscal performances. The takeover of the WPT brand gives more reason to believe in a brilliant future for the company.